Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 165: Xing Shen and Fox Demon

Lu Zheng looked down at the shepherd boy, patted his head, and said with a smile, "You should go herd the cattle. Don't really lose them."

Upon hearing this, the villagers nearby glared at the shepherd boy and said, "Zhou Wa'er, did you leave the cow on the mountain? If the cow had been lost, your mother would have beaten you to death!"

The shepherd boy shrank his neck and said, "Dahei is not stupid. How could he possibly lose such a big cow..."

However, the shepherd boy was a little worried, so he looked at Lu Zheng and said, "If you like apricots, remember to buy them from my shop. I also have dried apricots and wine."

After saying that, the shepherd boy ran to the mountain to look for the cows.

"This Zhou Yaowa..." The villagers couldn't help laughing and shaking their heads.

Zhang Bo winked at Li Zhao again.

Li Zhao didn't understand what was going on, but he understood what Zhang Bo meant.

He directly took out a sign and said, "I am the son of the magistrate of Kaiyang County. I heard that the apricot blossom wine here is good, so I came here specially to take us to try it."

Several villagers were shocked when they heard this. They didn't expect Li Zhao to have such a great background.

They looked at the sign, but couldn't figure out what it meant.

But no one would think that anyone would dare to pretend to be the son of the county magistrate.

Impersonating such an identity is a crime that will cost you your life.

A villager hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, I will take you to see the village chief."

When encountering such a situation, the village chief must naturally step in.

"Okay, take us to see the village chief. I want to ask about the situation in your village." Li Zhao nodded lightly.

Zhang Bo said leisurely, "This apricot forest is nice. Brother Lu and I want to paint a picture here. You guys go ahead."

As he spoke, Zhang Bo took out a pen and paper.

Li Zhao said with a smile: "Okay, you guys play here for a while, we will go into the village first."

Li Zhao asked everyone to leave and not to disturb Lu Zheng and the other person's fun.

Although several villagers felt a little strange, they did not suspect anything.

Lu Zheng waited for a while, and seeing that there was no one else around, he took out a talisman and activated it. A ray of light flowed and spread in all directions.

Then, Lu Zheng said calmly, "Please show yourself, both of you. I've already used the tracking talisman. Even if you run away now, I can still find you."

Two? Zhang Bo was suspicious and looked around cautiously.

He just felt a little unusual, but he didn't expect that Lu Zheng had already discovered the presence of two people.

However, after Lu Zheng finished speaking, there was no response.

Lu Zheng continued, "Why don't you show up? A fox demon and a tree demon, do you really think I'm trying to trick you? I don't like fighting. Do you really have to do it?"

After a few breaths, a golden light flashed, and an illusory figure appeared in front of the Apricot King Tree.

The figure looked like an old man, with a light golden halo covering his entire body.

"This is……"

When Zhang Bo saw the old man, he couldn't help but frown.

The old man bowed and said politely, "Greetings, gentlemen."

Lu Zheng looked at the old man and asked, "Who asked you to cultivate the spirit?"

God? Zhang Bo quickly realized that the old man in front of him was actually a Xingyao who practiced the way of the gods.

The nine countries in the world do not allow private worship of gods and have always been suppressing wild gods.

Because cultivating the spirit requires the wishes and incense of the people.

On the one hand, wild gods can more easily mislead the people and pose a hidden danger to social stability.

Upon hearing this, the old man couldn't help but say, "I have been worshipped for many years. I accidentally gained wisdom and turned into a demon. I have cultivated into this form. It was not instructed by others."

Lu Zheng looked at the old man and said, "Really?"

"No, I also entered the Shinto path unintentionally." said the old man.

In this world, there are indeed some wild gods who inexplicably understand the way of Shinto practice.

Lu Zheng then said, "You should know the laws of Anguo. Wild gods are strictly prohibited from existing."

The old man remained silent. He had lived for so long, how could he not know such things?
However, when he embarked on this path, he did not want to ruin the cultivation he had made over the years, so he kept practicing like this with a hopeful mentality and never dared to show it in front of anyone.

"I have never hurt anyone." This was all the old man could say.

Zhang Bo, standing beside him, said coldly, "Just because you haven't done it now doesn't mean you won't do it in the future... You're following the path of the gods. With so few people in Xinghua Village, they can't provide you with much incense. If you want to break through to the path of the gods in the future, you'll definitely want to seek more incense. When that happens, will you be able to maintain your original intention?"

Zhang Bo had never seen a real god before, but he had heard some stories from his elders.

Some wild gods initially had no intention of harming anyone, but eventually became crazy in their practice and brought chaos to the people.

The old man was unable to refute what he heard, because he had indeed reached a bottleneck in his practice and had been thinking about ways to break through.

The old man couldn't help but sigh and said quietly, "What do you two want to do with me?"

Zhang Bo turned his head slightly and looked at Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "If you haven't done anything evil, and your Shinto practice is reduced, I will give you some compensation. How about that?"

How could he refuse? The old man wondered, "How could he possibly refuse?" He had no confidence in dealing with the two men before him. Furthermore, among those who had left earlier was the county magistrate's son. If things really got out of hand, he would be dead.

"Compensation?" The old man was a little curious that the young man in front of him would actually give him compensation.

Lu Zheng said, "If you have a kind heart and are able to protect the local environment, I should compensate you for the damage I have done to your cultivation."

Lu Zheng waved his hand, and the Green Bamboo Picture appeared.

The old man clearly felt the vitality in the painting, and the vitality and spirit in it were of great benefit to him.

Lu Zheng quickly put the picture away and said, "Isn't it time for your companion to show up?"

The old man looked down at the ground.

Some of the soil collapsed, revealing a hole.

A fiery red fox emerged from the cave, kneeling on its hind legs and offering a bow with its front legs raised. It trembled and said, "I am only a small demon from the mountains. I have done nothing evil. Please spare my life, gentlemen!"

Lu Zheng asked curiously, "How did you two get to know each other?"

The old man said, "This fox demon came to the apricot forest a few years ago to steal fruit. I saw that he was a monster and had no intention of harming anyone, so I met him. After a few visits, we became friends."

The fox demon nodded repeatedly, "I'm just a fox, I don't have much ability, how dare I hurt anyone?"

Lu Zheng looked at the fox demon and said, "We found your cave before, but there was nothing inside. How could you be here? You can't have hidden all your belongings just to visit a friend, right?"

The fox demon said nervously, "I heard some rumors, so I came here to take refuge."

"The sound of the wind?" Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

The fox demon explained, "I know a few spirit birds. They come and go, and occasionally give me news. I heard that many demons and ghosts have died in Kaiyang County recently. Many of them died suddenly and inexplicably... It is said that it was all done by a killer named Lu Zheng. He kills demons everywhere. I thought it was unsafe in the mountains, so I came here to take shelter."

The fox demon felt that it would be safer to hide near the village, where the apricot trees would mask its scent.

I didn't expect that I escaped the first disaster but not the second one, and was still found.

Zhang Bo looked at Lu Zheng and couldn't help but say, "Brother Lu, I didn't expect you to be so famous among the demons."

The fox demon was stunned when he heard this. Remembering that Lu Zheng had called himself Lu before, he felt his heart suddenly chilled.

Lu Zheng was curious after hearing this. "A lot of demons and ghosts died suddenly? Where did you get the news?"

Those inexplicable deaths of demons and ghosts should be the result of the dragon using forbidden techniques.

"Well, I don't know either, but that's what the birds said anyway." The fox demon said timidly.

Lu Zheng thought about it and guessed that a lot of demons and ghosts had died recently, and he was the most active one. His reputation was well-known and even reached some demons and ghosts.

They spread rumors and pinned everything on him that he had not done.

Lu Zhengdao said, "I only eliminate evil. You're trying to hide from me. What evil have you done?"

"No, no!" The fox demon shook his head like a rattle.

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "Come here and let me see."

The fox demon was shaking all over, and was so frightened that his legs were weak and he couldn't move.

Lu Zheng laughed and said, "Is Mr. Lu really that scary?"

The fox demon couldn't help but say, "They all say that you kill demons and ghosts without mercy, leaving no one alive..."

"If there are no survivors, how would you demons know?" Lu Zheng said.

The fox demon thought about it and it seemed to make some sense, but she felt something was wrong.

"Come here." Lu Zheng said again.

The fox demon crawled on all fours and trembled in front of Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng squatted down and put one hand on the fox demon's head.

The fox demon suddenly felt a hot breath entering its body, making it feel extremely uncomfortable.

But soon, this breath disappeared.

"Very good, you passed." Lu Zheng said, "Behave yourself from now on. But if you meet someone else next time, they may not be as easy to talk to as I am."

The fox demon was as if granted amnesty, and kowtowed quickly, saying, "Thank you very much, sir, for sparing my life. I will definitely be a good demon!"

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "Go back to the cave and stay there. Don't come out and scare the villagers by talking nonsense."

The fox demon didn't dare to stay any longer and immediately ran back to the cave.

Lu Zheng looked at the old man again, "Have you thought it through?"

The old man nodded and said, "I will leave it to you, Master."

The old man knew that he had no other choice. Only Lu Zheng was willing to give him a chance. If it were the government, they would definitely burn the entire tree to ashes.

Lu Zheng looked at the lush apricot tree in front of him and said, "This way, it won't damage the tree and cause the apricots to fall, right?"

If the old man's power is reduced and the King Apricot Tree becomes dying, it will be difficult to explain to the villagers later.

Upon hearing this, the old man said, "If you trust me, please give me the painting for use."

Lu Zheng took out the Green Bamboo Map without hesitation and threw it to the old man.

The old man caught the scroll steadily, raised his hand and sent out a stream of divine power, slowly integrating the vitality and spirit of the painting into the apricot tree.

The whole apricot tree was nourished by the scroll and became more vibrant.

The green bamboo scroll became dull and lifeless, and the few green bamboos in it no longer swayed. Their color turned from green to yellow, and their vitality gradually disappeared.

(End of this chapter)